Fedor Emelianeko dismantles Tim Sylvia at "Affliction: Banned"

ANAHEIM, CALIF. — Famed Russian fighter and new WAMMA heavyweight champion Fedor Emelianenko needed just 36 seconds to quiet the naysayers, solidify his standing as one of the world’s top fighters, and score his first victory over a legitimate heavyweight contender in nearly three years.

An announced crowd of 13,988 witnessed Affliction’s debut show, which proved to be one of the most remarkable and meaningful events in mixed-martial-arts history.

Emelianenko struck quickly, dodging Sylvia’s first punch and flooring the former UFC champion with a barrage of punches. Emelianenko (28-1) quickly pounced on his opponent, took his back, and forced Sylvia (24-5) to tap out from a rear-naked choke just 36 seconds into the fight.

With a stunned, noticeably pro-Fedor crowd on its feet for the entire post-fight festivities, the longtime PRIDE champion skirted a question about where the victory puts him among the world’s best.

“Honestly, I don’t think about rankings and where people put me and all that,” he said through a translator.

After the bout, Emelianenko’s possible next opponent entered the ring. There, estranged UFC heavyweight champion Randy Couture said he looked forward to clearing up his contract dispute with the UFC so he could fight Emelianenko, most likely under the Affliction banner.

So when could that fight take place?

“Hopefully this year if I’m lucky,” Couture said.

In the night’s co-main event, a star was reborn when Andrei Arlovski’s dominant — and ofentimes violent — victory over Ben Rothwell created a truly electric atmosphere inside the hosting venue.

Arlovski, who’s been working with noted boxing coach Freddie Roach, showed the type of aggression and quick, crisp striking that previously led him to the UFC’s heavyweight championship.

However, the fight was far from a cakewalk. In fact, the second round could go down as one of the year’s best, largely because Rothwell proved to be so resilient. Punches in bunches had Rothwell in trouble. But after Arlovski’s unsuccessful heel hook, Rothwell became the aggressor, and working from top position, the former IFL heavyweight champion unleashed effective ground and pound with stinging elbows.

After a stand-up, though, Arlovski (13-5) finished the round well, and he carried the momentum into the third and final round, where he finally dropped the iron-chinned Rothwell (29-6) with a barrage of punches and knees before the TKO stoppage at the 1:13 mark.

Arlovski, who was the clear favorite with the crowd, had no predictions for his next bout.

“I appreciate Affliction for putting me on a card with so many great fighters,” Arlovski said. “It’s up to Affliction.”

After a lengthy feeling-out process in the first round, Josh Barnett (23-5) picked up the pace in the second, and he quickly created an opening to floor Pedro Rizzo (16-8) with a big left hook early in the round.

Barnett solidified his top-five world heavyweight ranking and avenged his first-ever career loss with the one-punch knockout.

Barnett suffered that first pro loss to Rizzo in February 2001. The former UFC champion avenged the second-round knockout loss with one of his own; Barnett’s came at 1:44 in the round. After the fight, he admitted that he had revenge on his mind.

“I said I’d like to have that win back, but you know, Pedro is as tough as they get,” Barnett said. “You take nothing for granted with a guy like him.”

While fantasy match-makers have seen many intriguing match-ups in Affliction’s stacked heavyweight division, Barnett wasn’t selective when asked whom he’d like to fight next.

In the night’s only featherweight fight, 145-pounders Mark Hominick and Savant Young initiated a frantic pace that was carried through the bout’s ultimate second-round conclusion.

Hominick’s decisive reach advantage proved pivotal in in the first round, and it likely prompted Young to go for the takedown in the second. However, Hominick was ready for it, and he took a dominant position to fire off multiple submission attempts.

Hominick (16-8) ultimately used a triangle choke to force Young’s (9-8) tap-out at 4:25 of the second round.

In one of the night’s more intriguing style match-ups, Renato “Babalu” Sobral’s jiu jitsu and striking negated Mike Whitehead’s wrestling and ground and pound in a three-round war of attrition.

After a fairly inconsequential first round, Sobral was effective in the second, trapping Whitehead with multiple submission attempts. After securing his opponent’s arm and shoulder, Sobral was on the brink of a submission victory.

Whitehead, though, survived, but he could never claim a dominant position as Sobral effectively warded off the takedown attempts. By the third round, Sobral (30-7) loosened up and mixed in effective striking to clinch the unanimous-decision victory over White (20-6).

“I had a tough time,” said Sobral of his previous training partner. “It was hard to work my submissions. … I tried hard to finish the fight.”

All three judges had it 30-27 for Sobral.

In his first fight in more than 17 months, Matt Lindland (21-5) grinded out a steady, lopsided and not-always-exciting unanimous-decision victory over Fabio Nascimento (8-4).

Lindland had his Brazilian opponent in trouble early after dropping him with a punch. He quickly locked in a guillotine choke, and though Lindland relentlessly worked to salvage the position, Nascimento eventually escaped.

The fighters stood and traded for most of the following two rounds, but Lindland got the better of it, mixing in short but effective uppercuts with crisp elbow strikes. Although clearly beaten, Nascimento kept ticking, and he forced the fight to a decision.

“I hit him a few big shots, and he kept laying it on me,” Lindland said.

The judges had it 30-26, 30-27 and 30-27 in favor of “The Law.”

Edwin Dewees made it interesting early, but the night’s largest underdog couldn’t pull off the upset. Instead, Antonio Rogerio Nogueira abandoned a dominant ground position and opted to stand and trade with the late replacement.

After a flying knee grazed his opponent, Nogueira let his hands fly, and a big hook connected flush, sending Dewees to the canvas. Tangled in the ropes and eating a barrage of follow-up punches from Nogueira (14-3), Dewees (35-13) — who replaced Vernon White in the bout earlier month — was saved when the referee jumped in to declare the TKO stoppage at 4:06 of the first round.

After the bout, the jiu-jitsu stand-out credited the victory to the continual work on his stand-up game.

“I felt great training … my stand-up and was very happy to show you guys,” Nogueira said.

After forcing the takedown to secure sidemount, Mike Pyle quickly moved into the mount position, took his opponent’s back, locked in his hooks, and then delivered a steady stream of punches until he could secure a fight-ending rear-naked choke.

The methodical performance earned Pyle (16-5-1) the submission victory over local fighter JJ Ambrose (9-2) at 2:15 of the first round.

“Anybody can get lucky and knock someone out, but you can’t get lucky and submit someone,” Pyle said.

Due to a delay to start the event, a bout between Ray Lizama and Justin Levens was scratched.

FSN CARD

After absorbing the brunt of a flying knee, Terry Martin was unable to survive a vicious combination from Vitor Belfort. After the knee, Martin immediately attempted a single-leg takedown. But Belfort (17-8) escaped and connected on a vicious right-left combination that sent Martin (16-5) crashing to the canvas and into the ropes. The stoppage came at 3:12 of Round 2.

The event’s scheduled 4:10 p.m. PT start time was delayed when it was announced the ringside doctor was missing. After about 10 minutes of waiting, Paul Buentello and Gary Goodridge, who were already in the ring, returned to their locker rooms. The bout eventually took place and was shown via short tape delay on FSN. … Despite some concerns over guest act Megadeth, the play list went over well and set a nice tone to the event. Reminiscent of PRIDE events, the main-card fighters walked out two-by-two and stood on a ramp during the opening song. … The sold-out crowd was surprisingly well-mannered, and based on when they cheered, most had a good knowledge of MMA. … Fedor Emelianenko, Andrei Arlovski, Matt Lindland and Renato “Babalu” Sobral were the clear favorites with the California crowd. … Tito Ortiz made a grand entrance with girlfriend Jenna Jameson and received a warm reception when walking the floor to their seats. … Although their bout was scratched, Ray Lizama and Justin Levens will still be paid their fight purses, according to one fighter’s camp.

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